ZX-81

Posted by musovern on May 19th, 2019 in Sinclair, Vintage Computers | 0 comments

The ZX81 is a home computer that was produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Dundee, Scotland by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair’s ZX80 and was designed to be a low-cost introduction to home computing for the general public. It was hugely successful, and more than 1.5 million units were sold before it was discontinued. The ZX81 found commercial success in many other countries, notably the United States where it was initially sold as the ZX-81. Timex manufactured and distributed it under licence and enjoyed a substantial but brief boom in sales. Timex later produced its own versions of the ZX81 for the US market: the Timex Sinclair 1000 and Timex Sinclair 1500. Unauthorized clones of the ZX81 were produced in several countries.

 

 

 

 

Manufacturer Timex Corporation
Type Home computer
Release date 5 March 1981; 38 years ago[1]
Introductory price £49.95 kit, £69.95 assembled[2] (£188–263/$251–351 at 2019 prices)
Discontinued 1984
Units sold More than 1.5 million[3]
Operating system Sinclair BASIC[4]
CPU Z80 at 3.25 MHz[4]
Memory 1 KB (64 KB max. 56 KB usable)[4]
Storage External cassette tape recorder at a claimed 250 bps[4] or an average 300 bps[5]
Display Monochrome display on UHF television[4]
Graphics 24 lines × 32 characters or
64 × 48 pixels graphics mode[4]
Power 9V DC[4]
Dimensions 167 millimetres (6.6 in) deep by 40 millimetres (1.6 in) high[4]
Mass 350 grams (12 oz)[4]
Predecessor ZX80
Successor ZX Spectrum